"Columbo" Murder by the Book (1971)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Steven Spielberg

Writers:

Steven Bochco (written by)
Richard Levinson (creator) ...

TV Series:

"Columbo" (1971)

Original Air Date:

15 September 1971 (Season 1, Episode 1)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

Ken Franklin is a rich socialite living in a luxurious coastal mansion bought from his years of writing crime and mystery books...

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Book | Police Lieutenant | Police | Insurance Policy

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Peter Falk	...	Columbo
Jack Cassidy	...	Ken Franklin
Rosemary Forsyth	...	Joanna Ferris
Martin Milner	...	Jim Ferris
Barbara Colby	...	Lilly La Sanka
Lynette Mettey	...	Gloria Jr. (as Lynnette Mettey)
Bernie Kuby	...	Mike Tucker
Hoke Howell	...	Sergeant
Marcia Wallace	...	Woman (credit only)
Haven Earle Haley	...	2nd Reporter

Runtime:

73 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-7 (2004) | Denmark:11 (2004) | Norway:15 (2004) | Sweden:15 (2004)

Filming Locations:

9000 West Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, California, USA

Company:

Universal TV

Trivia:

The mystery writing team of Franklin and Ferris is a reference to another mystery writing team: Levinson and Link - Richard Levinson and William Link, the creators of Columbo. When preparing to play a scene as mystery writer-turned-murderer Ken Franklin, Jack Cassidy would ask aloud to anyone within earshot, "Who am I playing in this scene, Levinson or Link?"

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Before Columbo begins to grate cheese, he grabs a bowl from the cabinet to put the cheese in. The bowl already has grated cheese in it.

Quotes:

[first lines]
[Jim works in his office]
Jim Ferris: [knock on the door] Who is it?
[another knock on the door]
Jim Ferris: [He opens the door - Ken is aiming a gun at his face. Jim laughs]
Ken Franklin: Oh, you're not intimidated.
Jim Ferris: Oh, come on, Ken. You're forgetting that I'm one-half of the world's greatest mystery-writing team? You, ah, don't have gloves on, your finger's not on the trigger, and there are no bullets in the cylinder.
Ken Franklin: [smiling] You're right. I'm a lousy practical joker.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saxondale: (#2.3)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

Love Theme from 'Red Sky At Morning'

Did Steven Spielberg ever get better than this?

Steven Spielberg (at 24) had already directed two superb episodes of a 1971 series called "The Psychiatrist", starring Roy Thinnes. One episode had been about an emotionally troubled 12-year old boy and the other was about a vibrant young man (Clu Gulager in his best performance) who is dying of cancer. Both episodes were stunning, visually unlike anything else on TV and emotionally complex and adult. The creators of "The Psychiatrist" were Richard Levinson and William Link, who created "Columbo" and also produced its first season.

Peter Falk insisted on first rank, experienced TV directors for the first season of "Columbo", like Bernard Kowalski and Jack Smight. But Falk agreed to Spielberg after watching part of the Clu Gulagher episode of "The Psychiatrist".

Spielberg says on the DVD of "Duel" that he loved Steven Bochco's "Murder by the Book" script (based on a Levinson/Link story), and he tried to make the production look like a million dollar feature, even thought he had a lot less money to work with.

This episode of "Columbo" is far more visually stylish and makes better use of the sound track and background music than almost any other "Columbo" episode, even though the series always used top directors. Spielberg manages to keep the great Falk and Cassidy from hamming it up too much, but both actors are still a lot of fun. Spielberg also gets fine supporting work from Martin Milner, lovely Rosemary Forsyth and Barbara Colby. All the performances have a freshness and vitality about them. The only "Columbo" episode that was close to being as well directed is the "By Dawn's Early Light" episode with Patrick McGoohan (directed by Harvey Hart).

I think the two episodes of "The Psychiatrist" and this episode of "Columbo" suggest Spielberg hasn't developed technically all that much as a director. He was great from the beginning. In a "Combat!" DVD commentary of a 1962 episode guest starring Albert Salmi, Robert Altman says that episode was pretty much as good as he ever got as a director. Maybe the same is true of Spielberg.